“What do you think of getting along with Sister-in-law?” Zhou Beihan asked with a smile.
“She’s a pretty good person. When I heard her name, it reminded me of my best friend from my previous life. Her name was also Jiani.” After saying this, Ye Qinglan’s eyes began to fill with tears.
“Don’t cry. It hurts me to see you like this.” Zhou Beihan stood up and comforted his wife.
“I’m fine. You clean up the dishes.” After saying that, she quickly ran into the room.
Zhou Beihan cleaned up the dishes and also heated up some water for her to take a bath. Then he returned to the room to call his wife.
That night, Ye Qinglan slept peacefully. In her dream, she returned to her previous life, playing with her best friend. The two of them ate together, went shopping, and enjoyed late-night barbecue.
It was a wonderful dream.
When Ye Qinglan woke up, Zhou Beihan had already gone to the army. Breakfast was still warm in the pot. After eating, she went next door to borrow a hoe and came back to turn over the soil.
At noon, Zhou Beihan returned home from work for lunch. When he saw the vegetable plot around the house, he noticed that one-fifth of it had already been dug.
“Wife, leave this kind of heavy work to me in the future. You can just plant vegetables and water them.” Zhou Beihan did not want his wife to do exhausting work.
“Alright. Turning the soil really is tiring. I want to plant a few fruit trees. Where do you think would be a good place?” Ye Qinglan asked obediently.
“Plant the fruit trees in the yard. The vegetable plot should be used for growing vegetables.” Zhou Beihan enjoyed chatting with Ye Qinglan about daily matters.
“You’re right. Leave these things to me. You just need to finish turning the soil.” Ye Qinglan planned to plant vegetables as soon as possible so she could take them out of her space later.
After lunch, Zhou Beihan went outside to continue turning the soil. He worked quickly and finished before it was time to return to the army.
Ye Qinglan followed Song Jiani to go collecting seafood at low tide. Today, the tide would go out at around two-thirty, and almost all the women from the family compound went.
Today, Ye Qinglan was still alone. She stayed far away from everyone else. Whenever she found seafood, she immediately stored it in her space, saving a lot of time.
Octopus — collected.
Large green crabs — collected.
Stonefish — collected.
Flounder — collected.
Small yellow croaker — collected.
Sardines — collected.
Spanish mackerel — collected.
Yellow croaker — collected.
Grouper — collected.
Sea bass — collected.
Large sea snails — collected.
Sand goby — collected.
Swimming crabs — collected.
Mantis shrimp — collected.
Pomfret — collected.
There were also prawns, ark shells, razor clams, flower snails, oysters, abalone, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, scallops, mussels, clams, blood clams, cat-eye snails, cuttlefish, bean clams, giant lobsters, bread crabs, and many other seafood.
It was another day with a huge harvest. All the valuable seafood was stored inside her space, while she left some cheaper seafood in the bucket.
In the end, Ye Qinglan dug up some clams and caught two large eels. She stored them in her space and placed them into the sea area to raise them. Perhaps they could even reproduce more small eels.
“Qinglan, try not to dig up too many clams in the future. These things are mostly sand, they’re cheap, and they don’t taste that great.” Song Jiani kindly reminded her.
“Sister-in-law, clams need to be kept in water first so they can spit out the sand before cooking. I can make them taste really good. I’ll bring you some this evening to try.” Ye Qinglan said generously.
“Alright, then I’ll try your cooking. By the way, when are you planning to invite everyone over for a meal? I can help you when the time comes.” Song Jiani asked with a smile.
“Ah? Beihan hasn’t mentioned it to me yet. It should probably be in the next few days. We still need to buy some rice, flour, and more pork.” Ye Qinglan planned to prepare more seafood dishes. Her cooking skills were excellent, so she believed she could handle it.
“You just moved here, and there are many things you need to prepare. It’s normal to wait a few more days. You don’t need to invite too many people. Just make it a simple gathering.” Song Jiani lowered her voice as she advised her.
“Okay, thank you for reminding me, Sister-in-law.” Ye Qinglan felt that Song Jiani was a very good person.
After returning home, Ye Qinglan placed the seafood into a basin to let them spit out the sand. She added clean water and poured in a few drops of oil.
Then, she washed the vegetables from yesterday, cut them into pieces, and placed them on plates for later use.
Today, she planned to make stir-fried octopus, spicy fresh clams, and boiled sea snail meat.
In the evening, after cooking the spicy fresh clams, Ye Qinglan brought a bowl over to Song Jiani. After tasting it, Song Jiani praised it endlessly.
“My goodness! Qinglan, your cooking skills are amazing. It tastes even better than food from a restaurant.” Song Jiani was actually a true food lover.
“Sister-in-law, this dish is actually very easy to make. If you want to learn, I can teach you.” Ye Qinglan planned to build a good relationship with the regiment commander’s wife.
So, Ye Qinglan explained the cooking method twice. After Song Jiani memorized it, she planned to try making it herself the next day.
At that moment, Regiment Commander Lin Guodong happened to return home. Ye Qinglan greeted him before going back home.
“Wife, what do you think of Beihan’s wife?” Lin Guodong asked in a low voice.
“She’s pretty good. The seafood she made tastes especially delicious. Try these clams she cooked. She even told me how to make them. I think she’s a very nice person.” Song Jiani was quite accurate when judging people.
After tasting the clams, Lin Guodong smiled with satisfaction. It seemed that Zhou Beihan’s judgment really was good.
When Ye Qinglan returned home, she saw Zhou Beihan waiting for her. The couple sat down together, ate dinner, and drank some wine. Only afterward did they talk about inviting people over for a meal.
“Wife, then tomorrow you should go out and buy vegetables. We’ll invite everyone over for dinner in the evening. I’ll bring back some alcohol at noon. We’ll probably need to prepare two tables of food since most people will come with their families.” Zhou Beihan had completely forgotten about this matter before.
“Alright, leave this to me. Tomorrow I’ll just make noodles for lunch. I might come back a little late.” Ye Qinglan wanted to sell some ginseng.
She had stored a lot of ginseng in her space. They were all artificially cultivated and very cheap. Back then, she had bought ginseng seeds because someone had convinced her to buy a large quantity.
That night, after Zhou Beihan fell asleep, Ye Qinglan entered her space.
She took out the ginseng seeds she had bought. After harvesting all the vegetables in the front yard, she planted ginseng everywhere and watered them with spiritual spring water.
Next, she harvested all the grapes in the backyard and placed them into baskets before storing them in the warehouse. When she had time, she could make some wine.
She kept some grapes washed and ready to bring outside. Tomorrow, she would give them to Zhou Beihan so he could enjoy something sweet.
Finally, she took out a large basket of various eggs and a small jar of honey.
The honey also needed to be exchanged for money, but she would need to buy bottles and divide it into portions first.
…
The next morning, Ye Qinglan went out with Zhou Beihan.
They took an old, worn-out bus. The vehicle shook the entire way, and there were many unpleasant smells inside.
After finally arriving at the county town, Ye Qinglan saw the streets were crowded and lively.
She took out two pieces of ginseng and went to a pharmacy to ask about the price.
“These ginseng roots are not wild ginseng. I can only give you eighty yuan for the two pieces.” An elderly man told her.
“That’s fine. They were grown by my husband’s family. If I have more in the future, will you still buy them?” Ye Qinglan was already very satisfied.
She had bought these ginseng seeds by weight, and eighty yuan at this time was not a small amount of money.
“If you have more, we’ll buy them. This kind of ginseng can be used to make medicinal wine. You can also buy some herbs and soak them together.” The old man seemed to be a doctor.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll come find you next time I have more.” After saying that, she took the money and left the pharmacy.
Ye Qinglan did not dare to sell too much at once. She could come back later and sell a few more roots when she had the chance.
She could not be too greedy, or it might bring trouble.
Ye Qinglan first went to the department store and looked around, getting an idea of the prices of goods there.
In the end, she did not buy anything and went to the farmers’ market instead.
She spent all the meat coupons she had and also paid money to buy a set of pig offal.